Jordanian journalist arrested over critical article

New York, April 25, 2012--Jordanian journalist Jamal al-Muhtaseb has
been detained since Monday on antistate charges after publishing an article
alleging misconduct by the Royal Court, according to news reports. Al-Muhtaseb's
sister, the author of the article, was also arrested but was released the same
day, news reports said.

The State Security Court in Amman, the capital, ordered the 14-day
pretrial detention of al-Muhtaseb, the publisher and owner of the news website Gerasa
News and editor of the weekly Al-Mir'aa,
and charged him with "opposing the ruling system," according to news reports. Sahar
al-Muhtaseb, the article's author,
was also arrested on Monday and given the same charges, but was released the
same day on bail of 5,000 Jordanian dinars (US$7,000), news reports said.

The article, published in Gerasa
News but inaccessible now, quoted an unidentified member of parliament
saying that a parliamentary committee had received directives from the Royal
Court, the office of the monarchy, to not refer a former minister's case to
trial, according to news reports. Sahel
al-Majali, a former public housing minister, faced corruption accusations over
a multibillion-dollar housing scheme
that was supposed to provide housing for low-income families, news reports said.

Al-Muhtaseb is being held in a prison
in Amman. Jordan's constitution permits the State Security Court, a military
tribunal, to try civilians only
in cases related to state security, according to local press freedom groups.

"The Jordanian government may not
relish journalists investigating its actions, but it has no right to drag them
before a military court for doing so," said Robert Mahoney, CPJ's deputy
director. "The authorities must immediately release Jamal al-Muhtaseb and drop
the charges against both him and his sister."

On Monday evening, at least 50 journalists protested al-Muhtaseb's
detention and demanded his release, news reports said. Another protest was staged the next morning in front of the Jordanian parliament building,
according to news
reports.

Journalists who write critically about the royal family have faced
threats in the past, CPJ research shows. In
late February, a Jordanian blogger was stabbed and
threatened for criticizing the royal family on her blog.